White House disputes Comey memo
Report says Trump asked FBI director to drop Flynn inquiry
WASHINGTON President Trump pressed now-fired FBI director James Comey to shut down the agency’s inquiry into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing a memo containing Comey’s notes from the meeting.
According to the report, Trump asked to meet with Comey alone after a national security briefing involving Vice President Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“I hope you can let this go,” Trump told Comey during the meeting in February at the White House, according to portions of the memo that was read to the newspaper.
Trump apparently was referring to the bureau’s counterintelligence inquiry into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates — including Flynn — and Russian officials accused of seeking to influence the presidential election. Trump abruptly fired Comey last week.
The White House strongly disputed the report. “While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn,” it said in a statement.
The Times called the memo “a paper trail Mr. Comey created documenting what he perceived as the president’s improper efforts to influence an ongoing investigation,” but the White House maintained it did no such thing.
“The president has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations,” the White House said. “This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey.”
On Capitol Hill, Democrats pounced on the latest revelation as evidence Trump tried to block the investigation into his campaign.
“Just leaving Senate floor,” tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy, DConn. “Just leaving Senate floor. Lots of chatter from Ds and Rs about the exact definition of ‘obstruction of justice.’ ”
California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, demanded Comey return to brief lawmakers on what he knows.
“Enough is enough,” Schiff said. “Congress really needs to get to the bottom of this.”
Comey “needs to come back before the Congress,” Schiff said, and “share with the public what conversations he had with the president” — including whether Trump tried to obstruct the investigation in any way.
Congress should also subpoena the reported Comey memos, he said. “Notes that were taken around the time of the conversation would be, I think, very powerful evidence of what took place,” he said, also referencing the president’s suggestion last week that conversations with the former FBI director may have been secretly recorded.
The meeting in question took place Feb. 14, the day after Trump fired Flynn because he had misled colleagues — including Vice President Pence — about the substance of phone calls he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.
The FBI has been reviewing Flynn’s contacts with Kislyak before Trump’s inauguration, in which he discussed sanctions the Obama administration imposed on Russia. Those conversations were secretly monitored by federal authorities, as are most communications involving foreign diplomats. Flynn initially denied discussing the sanctions but later said the subject may have surfaced.
“The president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation.”
White House statement late Tuesday